They orbed into Cole's apartment, half expecting to be thrown out by some magical guard. But there was nothing, no protection spells, none of Cole's demonic followers, nothing to protect the building from good magic. Phoebe knew this made things easier for them, but she couldn't help but feel alarmed that her ex hadn't taken more precautions.

They stepped into the apartment and looked around, not one of them daring to say a word for fear that Cole would hear them and take off with Angelie.

"Phoebe. What a pleasant surprise."

Phoebe spun around to see her ex-husband standing behind her in the doorway to the bedroom they once shared. She heard a small cry coming from inside the room. Quickly, anger overtook her fear. "You bastard." she spat. "If you did anything to hurt her, I swear-"

"Relax." Cole said, dismissing her suspicions with a wave of his hand. "She's useless to me dead, and anyway, I don't really want to hurt her. That would hurt you, and you know I could never do that."

Phoebe rolled her eyes. "Yanno what, Cole? I've heard this bull before, and right now, I'm more interested in gettting my neice back than listening to your BS."

Cole laughed. "You think it's that easy? You think you can just come in here, yell at me, and I'll back down and give her up? Come on, Phoebe, I thought you were smarter than that."

"She is." Piper said. She, Paige, Leo, and Julius had come up behind Phoebe while she and Cole were arguing. Now, they stepped out from where they had been half-hidden from the demon's view.

"We've come to offer you a deal." Leo said, glancing nervously at the Elder.

"Me for the baby." Julius said. "You know who I am, Cole, how much power I possess. It's got to be greater than that of an infant, even if she is mostly Whitelighter."

Cole considered this for a moment. If he was to give them the baby, and the Elder kept his word, he could easily take over Up There in a matter of minutes. However, if they double-crossed him, he'd have neither the baby nor the Elder, and that wouldn't look very good in front of his subjects, most of whom had been loyal to him since he'd become the Source. Cole mulled this over, trying to decide if it was worth the risk. Then, he got his own idea.

"Okay." he said. "I'll accept."

He went into the bedroom. Paige followed him in, and he handed her the baby. She turned to leave, but he blocked her way.

"First, the Elder." he said. "Then you can leave. And don't try orbing out of here, I've got a special charm put around this room that prevents that kind of thing. Knowing spells like that really come in handy at times like these."

Phoebe glowered at him. "Cole, let her go."

"First Julius comes to me." he insisted.

Julius nodded, resigned. He stepped forward, toward Cole, ready to hold up his end of the bargain. At the last second, Phoebe ran in front of him, standing between the Elder and the demon.

This is what Cole had been counting on. In one swift move, he grabbed Phoebe, shoved Paige out of the room, and slammed the door.

Piper banged on her end of the door, silently cursing. "Phoebe!" she yelled. "Damnit, one of you, open the door!"

Phoebe tried, but the knob held fast. "I can't." she yelled back.

Piper turned to Leo and Julius. "Do something."

Leo tried to orb into the room, but was immediately thrown back.

"Man, he wasn't kidding." Paige remarked, biting her lip.

"Damnit, Cole, let her go." Leo called.

"Why should I?" Cole asked rhetorically. "You've got your precious neice back, now go."

"He's right." they heard Phoebe say. "The important thing is Angelie. I'll be fine, just get her home."

"We're not leaving you." Piper insisted.

While they were preoccupied with the door, the darklighter shimmered in behind Paige. Silently, he lifted his crossbow, aimed, and fired.

For a moment there was shocked silence, followed by the sound of the baby screaming. Angelie had been hit in the arm with a darklighter arrow.

Paige looked in horror at Julius. "What the hell do we do now?" she asked, tears running down her face at the thought of losing Angelie.

Julius didn't answer. He knew there was no time to do anything but react. He grabbed Paige's arm. Piper, who had been clutching Leo's hand when the arrow was fired, put her free arm around her sister. In an instant, they disappeared.

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A/N: I know, you may all be mad at me for what the darklighter did to Angelie, but just hang on until the next chapter. Bet you can't guess where they orb to. Or maybe you can. But anyway, review.